This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Oslo's reinvention as a chic waterfront town leaves Toronto in the dust

OSLO–Here it is, an urban centre that has everything you want in a city – and less.

With a population of just over 500,000, about the size of Hamilton, the capital of this tiny (pop. 4.8 million) nation feels like a big city trapped inside the footprint of a small town. But don't let size fool you; Oslo today is still adapting to its new role as one of the richest cities in the world, let alone Europe. Fuelled by abundant North Sea oil reserves, Norway's economy chugs along quietly but comfortably.

Through it all, Oslo remains a rather modest, even self-effacing, community. Still, this is a city accustomed to a certain standard of living – high. The streets are clean, the buildings well maintained, the people well turned-out, though with a studied casualness.

Public transit is quick and efficient, especially the train that runs downtown from the international airport. The roads and highways are full of cars, though few are luxury vehicles. Many ride bicycles, and the LRVs run through public squares as well as down the main streets.

Mostly, things are practical, designed to fit in, not stand out. Oslo's grandest buildings date from the 19th century, a more opulent age. Then, it seems, nothing happened until the Oslo Opera House opened last year.

Built at a cost of about 4 billion NOK (Norwegian kroner), or more than $800 million, it was delivered under budget and ahead of schedule. Given that the opera house is one of the most remarkable structures of the 21st century, that's an extraordinary accomplishment.

The architects, from one of Norway's most celebrated young firms, Snøhetta, won an international design competition to get the job.

The builders, which include the Norwegian national government, the port authority and the city of Oslo, scoured the planet looking for skills and materials, but still managed to live within the budget. (In Canada, where we tend to opt for the cheapest bid, the tendency is for projects to cost more than originally planned.)

But like so many cities, Toronto included, Oslo is anxious to remake itself in the image of a waterfront city. The difference in Norway is the extent of government commitment. Building an opera house on what was until recently an industrial site was not just an act of impressive civic courage, but also an expensive one. Of course, the wheels grind as slowly here as anywhere; the idea of revitalizing Oslo's waterfront first surfaced in the 1970s.

But as senior Oslo planner Eivind Hartmann points out, "When you say yes to an opera house, you say yes to a whole lot of other things." In other words, more development.

In addition to the inevitable office and condo towers, two major cultural venues – the new Munch Museum, a showcase for the work of painter Edvard Munch, and the new national library – will be constructed nearby.

At the same time, the raised highway that travels along the bottom of Oslo will close in a year, to be replaced by a tunnel now nearing completion. Already Oslo has a toll ring road that surrounds much of the city; since the 20 NOK ($4) fee was introduced in 1990, it has raised 1.6 billion NOK ($320 million), used to fund public transit.

But there's no question Norwegians love their cars; even with the waterside highway gone, a multi-lane boulevard will still run alongside the opera house.

And like city dwellers everywhere, everyone in Oslo complains about the cost of housing. Nobody can afford to live downtown, you hear over and over; it's too expensive. Certainly, Oslo isn't cheap; three beers might cost the equivalent of $40; a cab ride from downtown to the airport, $180.

Long before you reach that airport, Gardermoen, you're driving through the Norwegian landscape, rural, coniferous and very green. The city borders may extend for kilometres, but the city itself runs out well in advance.

The critical mass of activity needed for urban life (everything from transit to the opera house) remains highly focused. The intermediate spaces of inner suburbs and outer sprawl so much a part of the North American topography are less evident here; the contrast tends to be more between urban and rural.

The exquisite Mortensrud Church, built in 2002 in the Oslo `suburb' of the same name, is a good example. Designed by Jensen & Skodvin Architects, it sits, all stone, glass and concrete, in a Muskoka-like landscape well within the city limits. You have to look carefully before you see the houses and industrial plants that surround the church. Yet it was designed around the natural features of the location, right down to the placement of individual trees.

Indeed, the issue of space, natural or urban, private or public, seems much on Norwegian minds these days. Everywhere you turn, there are plans for new squares, waterfront promenades and the like. The best example is the opera house which, because of its roof, which is meant to be walked upon, doubles as a building and a public space.

As befits a time of unprecedented urban expansion, Oslo is under pressure to accommodate all the people who want in, from within and without. More than ever, perhaps, Norwegians are susceptible to the allure of the city.

In many respects, Oslo, and many other European communities, is easily 20 years ahead of North America. Wander these streets to get a glimpse of where Toronto might be two or three decades ahead: Public parking spots with outlets for electrical cars, quiet, efficient and frequent streetcar service, a buried expressway ...

Even the train station, which sits in the heart of the city, is about to get a major makeover. Though no one's sure when that will start, it's expected in the next four years. Like Union Station, it is Oslo's main transportation hub.

That project will be handled by another local practice, Space Group, one of a number of young outfits that could change the face of this country.

Not every commission is as large as the opera house, of course, but even some of the smallest have a sense of ingenuity that has attracted an international audience.

One of Norway's most interesting and enlightened experiments is a national government program that commissions young architects to design roadside features on the country's most scenic autoroutes. They range in cost from roughly $125,000 to $25 million, and can include anything from information centres and lookout points to washrooms and pathways. In some cases, the results have been spectacular enough to garner global attention and launch a career. At the same time, various isolated economies in northern Norway have been revived and tourism increased. When the program ends in 2018, there will be 500 sites spread over 18 highways.

Using the power of design, not to mention beauty, to built national infrastructure and enhance economic performance doesn't come naturally to Canadians. Maybe not to Norwegians either, but the lesson has been learned: One day the oil might run out, but the habit of excellence lives on.

More from The Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com